Tony’s Tech Terms: API

API stands for "Application Programming Interface," which is a bridge that allows different software applications to communicate and share information. APIs often use a format called JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) to transfer data, making it easy for different systems to understand and use the shared information.

We support several APIs, such as Terms, Sessions, SDP, Courses, Course Fees, and Academic Calendar. Additionally, we consume data from other APIs. For instance, room scheduling data for our roomsearch.umn.edu site is provided by Ad Astra’s API.

APIs can also use XML (Extensible Markup Language) to structure data. For example, we use XML to request APASs or send TFMS data to Peoplesoft. By transferring data as encoded text following the rules of JSON or XML, APIs help us communicate with systems that may be running different software than we’re using.